“Cappucino Moments …are you getting anyway lately?”
Barbara San Filippo of Romano San Filippo stood before us , all 5 feet of her (“us” translates into the National Speakers Association Central Florida Chapter.) She ended her presentation to a group of weary, road warrior speakers on the note of “cappuccino moments.” Were we getting enough? I sat up in my seat and was intrigued to hear more. What on earth was she talking about?
She went on to describe her life as a type A entrepreneur, working nights, some weekends, traveling, airport security, rushing around doing errands, taking care of pets, kids, elderly parents, etc. She came to the realization that she was not getting enough. Cappuccino moments, that is.
She described a “cappuccino moment” as a time to just “be”, not do. Author, Wayne Dyer, (Pulling Your Own Strings, Erroneous Zones) calls it “becoming a human being, not a human do-ing.
She told us how her perfectionist, type A personality, spilled into her personal life and she had to handle everything, so it could be in her control and be perfect. Boy, I was not only sitting up straight but taking copious notes.
She laughed at herself when she said, ‘How arrogant of me to think no one else could select a tomato as correctly as I!” She then wrote a list of all the things in her life she could outsource.
| *Food shopping | *Cleaning house |
| *Lawn work | *General Errands |
| *Laundry | *Drugstore, video store |
| *Drop off at Goodwill | *Dry cleaners pick up |
| *Car washing |
Barbara got together with her husband and started planning more free personal time and more vacations, (minor and majors ones) and more “couple” time. Her husband found lawn work therapeutic, so she took that off the “outsource ” list.
She then found a retired neighbor lady, negotiated a reasonable hourly rate and gave her most of the list. A cleaning lady was hired and a neighborhood boy did the car washes in the driveway.
Barbara felt a load off her chest, gave her retired neighbor a reason to feel useful and Barbara was able to spend more “cappuccino moments” with herself and her husband. This freedom allowed her to explore her new passion of volunteerism. Having felt very self absorbed and only giving in a monitory way, Barbara and her husband now volunteer weekends at a homeless shelter serving food and bonding with families staying here.
Most of us on a budget are wondering “how can I afford all of this help?” She recommended less shopping, less lattes, and start an “outsource” fund.
I was personally so inspired, I called my daughter’s ex-babysitter when I returned home from this meeting. She’s a retired woman, always needing extra money, on a fixed income.
I asked if she would like to run errands and food shop for me. She was fine with it. What a thrill to come back from a trip to Detroit, to find my refrigerator full of food!. My daughter, Sarah, once looked in our empty frig and asked, “Mom are we poor?” I laughed and replied, “No, I’m just busy, ” I paid my sitter $25 to go to Publix and Costco and then, she put everything away, (washed chicken, put in ziplocks for freezer, washed fruit, etc. ) that gave me 3 glorious hours (AKA: cappuccino moments) to go to the gym with Sarah and then sit in my back yard with a book and enjoy the birds singing. Are there “cappuccino moments” in your future? We can all benefit for becoming a human being, not a human do-ing!
